How much does this cost / how easy is it dealing with Nikon? Has anyone ever dealt with them?

I confirmed for certain that I in fact do have a consistent backfocussing problem with my 35mm 1.8G (it's not an if, it's not a maybe). On a side-profile, if I focus on someone's cheeks, it'll be their lips that are in focus. On a front profile, if I focus on teeth or lips or a cheek, it'll be their neck, sometimes ears, and a little bit of hair that's in focus. Etc. I've done some static tripod tests. Basically my backfocus is off by an inch, maybe an inch... maybe a little bit more.

I'm going to give Nikon a call (there's a service center about 40 minutes from me)... but I'm just hoping there's someone who has some experience with this.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Sep 18 2013 03:52am

*sigh*...

It's very annoying.

If I dial the focus ring back by about 5-7mm of a turn after autofocus does its job (just very very slight), I get razor sharp images every time. Alternatively, if I use liveview (which has a major lag between each shot), I also get razor sharp images.

Shooting f1.8 through to f4, backfocus is obvious. At about f5.6 things get decent, but that's just dumb... f5.6 isn't what a prime was made for!!!!!!!

Just take it back to where you bought it and demand an exchange. Tell them the focus is off and you would like to test another to make sure it's the lens. Bring your camera to the shop so the clerk can see what is happening. It will help in your exchange claim.

I went through 5 (yes, 5) Canon 50 1.4 lenses before I got one I was satisfied with. The first one almost completely fucked a fashion shoot, half of the images were off. So I went back to where I bought it and told them I wanted to exchange it for another. I was there for almost 2 hours and tested 5 more brand new versions with a focus chart and eventually picked the best one.

Not sure if you will get the same treatment at your shop but it's worth a try.

Bought it from Best Buy. :-/ 3 months ago. I was new to shooting when I got the lens and people on this forum kept telling me to learn how to focus correctly when I'd post shots >_<;

There's a Nikon service center that I can drive to. I'm hoping that instead of shipping it in, I can simply drive it in and maybe have it serviced on the spot... I'll give them a call tomorrow.

I saw you post this on TPF, Canadian, and someone recently posted about the service they got from a Nikon Service Center. It definitely wasn't anything less than amazing, so I can't imagine you having too much of an issue with taking your lens in.

And it's perfectly reasonable to assume user error when it's the first time you've picked up a camera.

Like what Atomic said, just take it to Nikon service and they will sort it out no worries.

I know it's perfectly reasonable to assume user error :). I'm not blaming the members who posted thinking it was user error, I was just mentioning that it's frustrating it turned out to not be user error. That said, it would've been nice to get more information quicker and earlier on (but it was my lesson to learn as it turns out).

Alright, well I'll call the Nikon service center now and see what I can do.

Blah... 2-3 week wait after bringing the lens in (haven't taken it in yet)... plus the drive... I guess I'll get around to this next week. If I can get dead-on focus with the lens with some calibration, I'll be very happy.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Sep 18 2013 05:05pm

If the lens is as far out as you say, I think it is actually faulty and should be replaced with a new unit.

Can you not return it to best buy? What is their return policy like?

Best Buy is absolutely the worst place to deal with when it comes to returns and exchanges. Unless he bought an extended warranty through Best Buy, he's probably better off waiting on Nikon. =-\

Is there a good print-out test that I can collect data from? As in, the target things that you focus on?

I was told when I bring the lens in that I should fill out a form describing the issue. I was thinking if I measured the lens inaccuracies, maybe I'd get better service for my camera in particular? idk...